JEDDAH — A child was removed from a Saudi Arabian Airlines plane after his mother allegedly breached safety and security procedures, an airline source said.
Eight-year-old Fares was forced off a plane heading to Jeddah from Jazan on July 13 by cabin crew, the source said.
“The mother of the boy said her son was removed from the plane without her knowledge. She said the flight attendant informed her that her son will be escorted to another seat at the back of the plane next to a relative. She said she was informed that her son was forced off of the plane minutes after the plane departed,” said the source.
He said the mother swore that had she known her son was escorted off the plane before departure, she would not have traveled without him.
"The mother said the airline staff made the mistake of booking an economy seat for her son on the next flight, and not on the flight she was traveling. She alleged that the airline employees did not even bother to update her of her son while she was on the plane worrying for her son throughout the flight,” said the source.
He said the mother claimed that her son was abandoned in the waiting area at King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Regional Airport in Jazan.
“The mother lodged a complaint with the airline management against a number of employees. The airline responded by letting the General Authority for the Civil Aviation open an investigation on the incident. The mother demanded compensation for financial and emotional damage the airline had caused her,” said the source.
The source said the investigations revealed the boy was on the waiting list but was allowed to board the plane anyway.
The mother and child sat next to the emergency exit, which is against the airline’s safety and security regulations. When the cabin crew asked them to change seats, the mother refused to budge.
“The airline staff asked the mother repeatedly to take another seat provided for her but she refused. Employees from the ground services were called on the plane to convince the mother but she refused to cooperate.
Eventually the airport security guard came on board and explained to the mother that she cannot sit near the emergency exit and will have take another seat with her son but the mother still refused to budge,” said the source.
The investigations revealed that neither the security guard nor any of the airline employees had asked her or her son to deplane, he said.
“The investigations show that the mother had asked the airline employees to cancel her son’s ticket and send him back to his family who were in the waiting area of King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Airport,” said the source.
He said the mother responded to findings of the investigation saying it was discreet but her son will never forget the moment he was escorted off the plane and away from his mother, which could have resulted in psychological problems for him.
